Why You Won’t Lose Weight From Exercise Alone

When you begin an exercise program, whether it be cardio, weights, or a class with a combo of both, your metabolism speeds up and your stomach never seems to stop growling. Sound familiar? Ever run a mile, come home, and your brain’s telling you to hit the fridge? Suddenly you’re starving and can’t seem to shut the voices up. Then you tell yourself: “Well, I just exercised so I should eat.” You pop a David’s Cookie in your mouth or one of your kid’s chocolate puddings and suddenly the 150 calories you burned off from your run was negated by an innocent pudding cup.

You run for a half hour, three days a week, with the same run/snack cycle and wonder why you haven’t lost any weight.

You sign your kids up for sports to help them become more active and stop the steady weight they’ve been putting on over the years, with the fear of obesity looming in their future, but instead of giving them a banana and water after their hour-workout, you feed them a 16oz Gatorade, Brownie Bites and a bag of chips. “But they exercised!” you say.

I won’t even get into the ones that pig out all day and then casually stroll around the block every evening after dinner.

Some people think if they exercise they can eat whatever they want.

“I worked out twice this week, so I have a free ticket to the all-you-can-eat buffet.” It doesn’t work that way and it doesn’t take that many calories to overcompensate for the gains you made through exercise.

I worked in a gym as a dietitian for two years. It was a one-on-one personal training gym where you could only work out with a trainer and most members came in 2 -3 times a week for their half hour training session, Then, once a week they came in to see me, get weighed and talk about what they ate over the week. After two years they never lost any weight. Most thought that since they worked out for the big 60 – 90 minutes a WEEK, they could continued to eat however they wanted. Other’s complained of being hungry and they were “Starving to DEATH!” Others (most of them) lied about what they were really eating and after weeks, or perhaps months, finally revealed the alcoholic beverages they drank, the undocumented juices, iced teas, and sodas they consumed, the late night snacking, the hot dogs they grabbed on the way to catch the train home from work, the portions-sizes they were really eating, and the ‘rewards’ they gave themselves every week (day) for working out.

Working out 1 hour a week (in a 168-hour week) does NOT make up for the sabotage you did the other 165 hours. If you want to lose weight, stop kidding yourself and lying to your friends and family. You cannot drink alcohol. You cannot skip meals and then make up for it later by binging. You cannot eat ‘good’ all week and then pig out non-stop all weekend, you cannot have a banana for breakfast and then a Big Mac for lunch.

You cannot treat yourself to that ‘one’ piece of cheesecake, that ‘one’ Taco Bell meal, that ‘one’ Dunkin Donut Pumpkin Muffin, that ‘one’ Double Chocolaty Chip Frappuccino Blended Creme, that ‘one’ piece of cake for your co-workers birthday, that ‘one’ happy hour with five beers, wings and potato skins, and that ‘one’ dinner out with your loved one complete with drinks, appetizers, and dessert, BECAUSE at the end of the week, those ‘ones’ become “tens.”

You need to make the commitment to change everything. Eat healthy all the time and exercise every day. It doesn’t have to be tortuous. You don’t have to give up everything you love. You don’t have to suffer, and cry and whine like a three-year-old. You’ve had many days, months, and I’m sure, YEARS of overindulging, not exercising, partying way too much, and look where it has gotten you.

Stop making excuses.

Join a gym and find something there you enjoy doing. It’s a measly half hour a day. Go early, late, after work, on your lunch hour. FIND the TIME!

Throw out all the junk in your house. Stop buying it. No one needs it. If they don’t like it, tough. It’s your money, your house, tell the kids to get their own apartments and your spouse too.

Drop your portions by a third (at least).

Find foods and recipes you all love. No one said you had to eat powdered food, packaged TV dinner-type lunches, bean sprouts, cardboard-tasteless meals, or boring snacks. Look up recipes and use your imagination. There is a plethora of foods you can now sample at every type of supermarket.

Ditch all those crappy carbs already! What are we, four-years-old?

Eat more fruits and veggies. Stop saying you hate them. This is not your mom’s canned peas or your grandmothers creamed spinach. There are a million varieties and ways you can eat them. Like Fresh. And raw. And right off the vine/tree.

If you MUST eat take-out, cause you can’t pour yourself a nutritious bowl of cereal with berries when you get home late from work, then use your common sense and choose the healthier options offered. And get “small.” Not large. Not Super-size. Small. You are feeding yourself, not the extra fifty-pounds on you. Stop feeding it. It’s becoming a whole other person. Starve it.

Reward yourself with non-food items. Like how about praise, and compliments, and self-confidence, and power and strength. You want to feel good about yourself? Stop wallowing in self-pity and give people a reason to look up to you, ask you how you did it, come to you for advice, and damn, let them be a little jealous. Maybe you can turn around and help them one day. Be their Inspiration.

So, what do you think? Are we going to do it this year, or what? Let me know.

I love hearing from you!

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2 Thoughts on “Why You Won’t Lose Weight From Exercise Alone”

Hey Christine,
I have made some changes in my life , hopefully they will work out they arent yet. I’ve also joined a gym and I try to go m-f for 45min- 1.5hrs, im drinking at least 80 oz water. and def cut back on my intake. (im not writing it down) my doctor put me on a weight loss pill Qsymia for a month so wouldnt feel hungry with all the excersie that certainly worked but then i never went to the bathroom either, so now im off that drug and on high laxative for the time being EEWWWW LOL has moved anything yet. TMI, LOVE your article I was wondering what our thoughts are on sushi rolls… Thanks LInda

Hey Linda! SO happy for you. Keep it up. It sounds like a great plan. ANd that was NOT TMI> More people should know what it will be like and that weight loss pills arent so perfect either. I am also sure others have gone through what you have.
As for sushi, sashimi would be the leanest, healthiest. As for rolls, stick with salmon and tuna, use brown rice and ask for less of it, or use seaweed wraps instead of rice. Dont get anything friend (tempora)
I found this for you: http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/diet-tips/best-and-worst-sushi-weight-loss/slide/all
Enjoy! Oh, and watch portions!!!